ScubaInChicago
Contributor
It was never a standard. It was just how it was done.
Bwahahaha, I would never lower myself to that "level" for a certification.
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It was never a standard. It was just how it was done.
Since folks have "glommed" onto PADI in this discussion, how about the other Agencies?
Which of the many, many, agencies demand as a Standard that all is taught neutrally buoyant. Beginner, recreational open water.
Note that I mean it is in the Standards for the Agency. Not "my agency allows me to do what I want" stuff, but a Standard such that if the Instructor did not teach the students neutrally buoyant they would be in violation.
Nope...I am not the "diver", I am the diver shooting the video from behind. This diver had 12 logged dives at the time. This is a good example of how not to teach someone to dive IMO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwFMugOZR2k
These guys were nice guys but the newer "diver" of the two just was not taught properly from the start. I felt bad for him because he was really struggling thru this dive. The second diver is an instructor but yet you still see him standing on the bottom. Luckily it was only seaweed for the most part.
Here is a suggestion. I have students start off in the shallow end ("stand up water") just swimming on the surface, BCDs inflated. Then I have them dump air and swim on the bottom, still in the shallow end, adding short bursts of air until they are swimming in mid water. This allows me to correct weighting, kicking skills, etc. Most importantly, it gets them comfortable. You will see in post #79 that NetDoc does something similar to achieve the same thing. We then go to what I call the instructional position (and, IIRC, NetDoc calls the "scuba position") and just stay there, looking at each other and getting comfortable for a minute or too. All of that extra time pays off in their comfort and ability to do the skills in that state of comfort. I mention this because I feel there is no skill that is more completely different between kneeling and being horizontal then regulatory recovery. Leaning to the right for the sweep method is a completely different skill. Reaching easily behind the ear to hook a hose that is inches away is completely different from reaching back with the left hand to push up a tank that is falling away from your back because of gravity before reaching for that still distant hose.I teach exactly two skills on the knees, initial regulator recovery (just to get them comfortable in stand up water) and equipment removal.
Part of the way I do it is to make sure I'm setting appropriate expectations for students that I expect them not to be on their knees for skills. You'd be surprised how much this works by simply setting the expectation that they can't be on the bottom. I also make sure that everything I demo is neutral buoyancy and in trim. It's been said here a million times before but students will often imitate their instructors, including fin kicks and hand placements.
Great post! Just a couple comments....
Here is a suggestion. I have students start off in the shallow end ("stand up water") just swimming on the surface, BCDs inflated. Then I have them dump air and swim on the bottom, still in the shallow end, adding short bursts of air until they are swimming in mid water. This allows me to correct weighting, kicking skills, etc. Most importantly, it gets them comfortable. You will see in post #79 that NetDoc does something similar to achieve the same thing. We then go to what I call the instructional position (and, IIRC, NetDoc calls the "scuba position") and just stay there, looking at each other and getting comfortable for a minute or too. All of that extra time pays off in their comfort and ability to do the skills in that state of comfort. I mention this because I feel there is no skill that is more completely different between kneeling and being horizontal then regulatory recovery. Leaning to the right for the sweep method is a completely different skill. Reaching easily behind the ear to hook a hose that is inches away is completely different from reaching back with the left hand to push up a tank that is falling away from your back because of gravity before reaching for that still distant hose.
This cannot be emphasized enough. I became certified to coach at a pretty high level by both the United States Volleyball Association and the United States Soccer Association, and in the training for both certifications, the fact that athletes will imitate what they see and ignore what they hear (when it is contrary to what they see) was absolutely hammered into my psyche.